My Thoughts On...Tea

Ok, so first of all, let me make this extremely clear. I love coffee. Just in case you didn't catch that, I'll say it again. I LOVE COFFEE. I mean seriously. Coffee & Me = Best Friends. Now, do I actually need coffee? Eh, probably not (you could probably just ask anyone who knows me). So, I got a coffee yesterday and I can't lie to you, I wasn't really feeling it. It might be because I'm sick or it might be because I've had too much of it, but I just didn't like it that much. Then it dawns on me. I don't need coffee. I could save $4 a day by not drinking coffee. Coffee doesn't own me. Talk about freedom of bondage. Then another fact dawns on me. I'm addicted. That's right, folks, I'm addicted. Now I've gotta go through the pain of withdrawals (night sweats, tremors, you name it--not really, but you get the point). I do get these horrible headaches after about 8 hours of being apart from the stuff. Geez, it's more like an ex-boyfriend than a stimulant. So, I'm not feeling well yesterday, I have that aha moment with the coffee and then I come home. I'm thinking,"Man, I could really use a hot beverage right now." But, not coffee (I know better than to turn back to that controlling liquid). I go through the list of non-coffee drinks in my head: hot chocolate (incredible, but a little too heavy), cider (we are currently out of cider. Besides, way too sweet), tea----hold up. Yes, that sounds perfect. It's as light as water, I can control the sweetness so I don't fall over dead and there's so many flavors to choose from. So, I have tea. And it is MARVELOUS. I don't know what clicked yesterday, but I've had probably 12 cups of tea in about a day and a half. I guess my mom always tried to get me to drink it and I just assumed when she said it was the "healthier drink", that it was disgusting. Well, I was wrong (Mother, I am sorry). I've also noticed that I LOVE fruit teas. Pomegranate, blueberry, peach, pineapple (who knew, right?). I mean, this stuff's amazing. So, I leave you with this: Don't turn something away because it's healthy. It might just save you from over-caffeinating yourself, bouncing off the walls and having to be hooked up to a coffee IV. I'm telling you, you won't regret it. Drinking tea doesn't mean you have to take yoga or meditate out in a field at 5am (something that my brother actually planned to do when he was 18...didn't happen). Drink tea and think happy thoughts.

Anna

My Thoughts On...Christmas

This was written on Christmas Eve:

Christmas is a strange thing. When you're a kid, every day in December is the longest day in the world. When you're older, it's like,"Where the heck did December come from? I swear it was July yesterday." So, here we are on Christmas Eve. I've got everything ready for Christmas and now I get to relax. Oh, how I wish those words were true. Truth is, I have a small habit of committing to way more than I have time for. This is when super powers would come in handy. Well, Christmas is here, ready or not, and I have some serious wrapping to do. Or perhaps I could start throwing my unwrapped gifts at their recipients. That would be a fun tradition to begin...

My Thoughts On...Snow

Ok...I have decided. I am not a huge fan of Snow. Let me rephrase that. I am not a huge fan of Snow unless I can stay inside next to a fire and play hooky from life until it clears. I have learned over the past couple of years that Snow brings its friend. He's called Ice. I despise Ice. I truly do. Nothing good comes from Ice. Right now, I can't get home. Why? Because of ICE! Ice belongs in the Arctic. Not Tennessee. I think this rant might be the product of my car doing a 180 on the ice a few years ago. Granted, it was funny at the time for strange reasons, but I don't much like the feeling of being out of control. But, I have noticed that men LOVE it. It's a challenge to them. "Make it home alive. Then I win." They try to be heroes. NEWSFLASH: MODERN DAY HEROES SAVE PEOPLE FROM FIRES. THEY AREN'T CONSIDERED HEROES FOR DRIVING ON THE ICE. THEY ARE CONSIDERED STUPID. It's not worth risking your life to prove that you're awesome. Men are STUBBORN. "Don't worry, honey. I have four-wheel drive!""I don't care. It's ice.""But we'll be fine! I have this under control.""Like you had the bathroom remodel 'under control'?-----that's what I thought." I don't mean to hate on men. I don't hate men. Just Ice.

On the Road Again...with Earl.

Ok...so we're back on tour after 2 weeks in Canada. We have stopped in South Carolina for a women's conference tonight. Tomorrow, we are off to South Africa...a wonderful 16 hours of flying. Since I'm not terribly fond of flying, you can have a sense of how excited I am. After Africa, we are headed to Zambia, Brazil, Costa Rica and Guatemala. I'm pretty stoked. I'm hoping to keep up this blog as I go, so you can feel like you're with us. Oh, and I brought my friend, Earl, to accompany me. He's not afraid of flying, so I've asked him to hold my hand throughout the flight. He's very supportive. He will most likely be showing up in my pictures throughout this trip. Hope that's all right.

Are You Mad At Me? Are You Sure? Really? Ok

Ok, so this post is about the sad "relationships" that surround us. I was in a store yesterday trying on some clothes and had to listen to the most unbelievable conversation I have probably heard in my life. This girl (we'll just call her Susan) was talking to her boyfriend about the Christmas parties she went to and how they weren't even good because there wasn't much dancing and a couple guys had asked her to slow dance (why she would tell this to her boyfriend that is out of town, I have no idea. STUPID MOVE #1). Then, Susan asks him, "Are you mad at me? Are you sure? Well, ok." (STUPID MOVE #2) Doesn't it make you mad when someone asks if you're mad? Well, it does for me. Then Susan starts getting onto him about not liking to dance. She literally said this, "You never dance with me. I swear, you won't even dance at our wedding. I'm gonna be out there dancing all by my lonesome." (STUPID MOVE #3) Seriously? Ok, why this girl thinks that she is even close to the maturity level of getting married is beyond me. Then comes this line again, "Are you sure you're not mad at me? Really? You just sound like you are. Ok." At this point, he's probably getting a little mad. If he puts up with her, he must be a very patient guy. I would have hung up already. She talks a little bit about what she ate last night (SUSHI!!!) and that she was so hungry the other night that she had to stop at a gas station and pick up a Hot Pocket (Oh, God forbid). Next, Susan talks about how she misses him. "I want you to come home. I was just telling Sarah the other day that I haven't missed you this much in a really long time." (Oh good, at least she missed him a little bit. STUPID MOVE #4. I get what she was trying to say. She just said it wrong.) Ok, you're out of town. Your girlfriend (or boyfriend) is at home. They go to parties. They get mad at you for not wanting to dance (what did I do? I was just spending Christmas with my family). They talk about your future wedding (our future what?). They haven't missed you this much in a REALLY long time (what is that supposed to mean, exactly?). So, to sum it up.....this is a REALLY sad relationship. To make it better, after a very sweet goodbye and asking ONE LAST TIME if he was sure he wasn't mad at her (he definitely is by now), she hangs up the phone and says to her friend, "I can't stand him!" Boy, the honesty in today's relationships blow my mind. I'm not gonna lie, it's pretty entertaining, but it's sad. Now, when's that wedding?

COLLEGE STORY #4
This story has nothing to do with college, but I've already titled the others with "COLLEGE STORY #_", and I like uniformity. My family and I were on a plane getting ready to go to back home after a beautiful wedding in Virginia. Tyler (brother) and I were sharing funny stories about weird things that have happened to us. There was a bit of confusion. This is how the conversation went down:

ANNA: Oh my gosh, Tyler, have I ever told you about the West End Starbucks story?
TYLER: Wait, the what?
ANNA: The West End Starbucks story.
TYLER: Are you saying Weston or West End?
ANNA: Westend..no..wait, West End.
TYLER: Oh! The West End Starbucks?
ANNA: YES!
...5 second pause...
ANNA: So have you heard it?
Tyler: Oh! No.
At this point, the story doesn't really matter. That conversation was incredible enough. I'll tell you anyway though. The story consists of me getting the first Pumpkin Spice latte of the season at Starbucks. I was walking out about to take a sip. A car honked at someone and scared me to death. Well, let's just say that the Pumpkin Spice latte didn't end up in my mouth. Oh well...

"Weigh Yourself Everyday for Better Health"....if only more people knew.

Ok, so it's been a while....I apologize for that. Once again, my life has decided to take the bumpy, off-road trail without warning me. School has gotten to be insane. I now know why college students are so crazy...they're sleep deprived, malnourished and over-worked. Alright, it's not that bad, but it's still bad. Today, I'd like to discuss the difference of college from high school. First, the freshman 15. Oh dear...touchy subject. I don't quite understand it, because when I got here, I lost 15 pounds. A little confusing. Then, I got stressed and gained 6...then the stress dialed down and I lost 3. Who knows where I am now. So, if someone asks me how much I weigh, I would honestly say, "I couldn't tell ya." It's a funny thing.
Also, something else that comes with college is the thought that comes with every morning: "Wow, I really don't want to get up. You know...I don't really have to get up. It is my decision. Mom's not here." That's when you get in trouble. But, surprisingly, students seem to come to class. Although, some of them are still in pajamas. Great effort, folks.
So, I'm taking the class "Introduction to Mathmatecal Reasoning". I can truthfully say that I will never use this in my life. Unless, of course, I run into a problem like this: "Hmmm...I have 52 cards in a deck...golly I wonder...just what would happen if I drew a 7 of hearts? What percentage of hearts are left? I must find out." Probability of a question like that making it's way into my brain: probably close to zero, unless college really does make me go crazy. Scary thought. Well, more comparison between college and high school in the next post and when I'm more awake and don't have to write 2 papers.

COLLEGE STORY #3
Ok, so this wasn't AT college, but I still count it because I was doing homework. I left my house one day to go to Startbucks to watch a movie for school. As I was going down the driveway I looked down and realized that there was a tear in my really nice jeans in the inner left thigh. I thought "Well, darn, my favorite pair of jeans. Oh well, nobody will notice." I got to Starbucks and sat on one of the "comfy chairs" (the ones that are squishy and nice). I was having a difficult time trying to balance the computer on my knees, while trying to eat and drink my Caramel Macchiato. I spotted an open table. "Awesome". So, I sat down on one of the hard wood chairs and I just felt the cold of the wood...I mean REALLY felt it. "Oh no". The one tear I saw unfortunately was not the only one. There was another hole that stretched across the back of about half my thigh. All I kept thinking was "How the heck do I get out of here?". So, I tried to pull my sweater down and walk strangely. I finally got out hoping no one saw me. I walked quickly to my car and of course, someone I knew was sitting right out front. At this point I didn't really care. True story.

P.S. If you're wondering about the title of this post, I saw it on one of those scales that are in mall and gas station bathrooms..the ones you have to pay to weigh yourself on...and I thought "Well, that seems ridiculous. So, you're saying that if I simply weigh myself everyday, I'll be healthy? Amazing".

Oh, The Joys of Dating

Dating is a weird thing. It's sometimes fun, sometimes horrible, and sometimes necessary. I don't know if you've ever been on a blind date. I've been on 2. Some people would say that I'm crazy, gutsy, or desperate. You are free to think what you like. Well, the first one wasn't bad at all. We actually dated for a while. Now, the second one...that's a different story. This date was fairly recent. I've learned the hard way that if I'm totally myself, the guy usually runs away....FAST. It's ok though, because I'll find a guy one day that loves me when I'm myself....right? A girl can only hope. Here's a lesson I learned that I'm going to share with you. 5 Things You DO NOT Do on a Blind Date (or any date now that I think of it): 1) Do not open up the conversation with this line,"I know 25 different ways to kill someone with a dagger." That would scare just about anybody, but it kind of came out in a moment of panic. Don't judge. 2) Don't talk about your ex-boyfriend. Common mistake. Just don't make it again. 3) Don't stare at your date the WHOLE time to the point where they're afraid that you're reading their mind. Maybe you are...still, you should be able to conceal it fairly well. 4) Don't try to fish for compliments...it's annoying and let's just face it...it's sad. Also, guys can sense that in a second. If they want to compliment you, they will...if not, just let it go. 5) Last, but not least, if you're at a Chinese restaurant, don't use chopsticks if you don't know how. You'll be too busy trying to figure out how these darn things work, miss everything your date is trying to tell you, and you'll look like an idiot. Sorry to be so blunt. Life's tough....get a helmet. So, I guess dating teaches you important things, like how to treat a human being, and makes for some entertaining stories. And, if you were wondering how I know all these things...let's just say I've learned from personal experience. Sad, I know.
So, to conclude today's blog, I will leave you will a marvelous quote from a friend's mom instead of a story...because, this blog was kind of a story in itself.

"Men are like buses. You may miss one, but another one comes every 15 minutes." -Lynnette Lynsdey

Just remember that quote the next time you ruin a date..it's going to be ok.